Shoe With Its Vamp Zonally Covered With Injected Plastics Material Securely Bonded to the Fabric

This invention relates to a shoe comprising a sole, toe and possible heel reinforcement of plastic material which is injected in one or more stages onto a vamp preferably in the form of a fabric sock.

In order to give them greater strength and longer life, known shoes of this type are reinforced or completed externally by leather elements fixed to the vamp by sewing. It is apparent that the manufacture of a shoe of this type requires considerable manual intervention (for cutting, gluing and sewing said elements).

The main object of this invention is to provide a shoe which can be produced more comfortably and simply than similar conventional shoes.

According to the invention, a vamp, which is preferably in the form of a sock of fabric or other material, is securely bonded to a reinforcing structure of plastic material which is directly injected onto the vamp in order to selectively cover the latter. The reinforcing structure is formed from mutually connected parts which preferably surround the shoe opening to form an edging, reinforce the toe and heel, and extend approximately transversely to the vamp in the form of bands.

The invention will be more apparent from the detailed description given by way of example hereinafter with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fabric sock which in practice constitutes the shoe vamp;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the shoe according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial section of the line III--III of FIG. 2 to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a perspective partly cut-away view of the shoe.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 indicates the fabric sock formed from several parts joined together by sewn seams 2. This sock in practice constitutes the vamp of the shoe of FIG. 2, this shoe being indicated by the reference numeral 3. More specifically, the sock comprises two lateral parts 4, 5 and a base 6 part formed of a fabric which is less dense than the fabric forming the lateral parts 4 and 5. In order to produce the shoe, the sock is mounted on the male part of a mould, not shown, the mould being completed by two female parts which can be withdrawn from each other in order to remove the shoe from the mould, and which, together with the male part (or rather with the sock which covers it) define the space into which the plastic material is injected, the plastic material sets on the sock and combines securely therewith in order to convert the sock into a final shoe which lacks only the finishing operations. These finishing operations are limited to removing the excess sock material at the shoe opening (defined by the border A), to fitting the eyelets 7 for passage of the lace, to sewing the seam 8 for fixing the tongue produced separately (if it has not been injected simultaneously), and to inserting the insole 10, which is also produced separately.

The male mould part, which serves to define the inner shape of the shoe, is provided on its lower face from the foot arch to the heel with a set of mutually crossing grooves, the depth of which increases for a certain distance towards the heel zone. During the injection of the plastic material, the latter filters through the less dense fabric of the base 6 of the sock, and penetrates into the grooves of the mould to form inside the sock mutually intersecting ribs 15 forming a type of grid, shown in FIG. 4, which acts as a support for the insole, and which in this zone consequently bonds the sock securely to the plastic material. Thus, the ribs 15 which penetrate through the less dense fabric of the base part of the sock constitute gripping projections to bond the plastic material securely to the sock.

The injected plastic material forms on the sock a continuous reinforcing structure securely bonded to the sock. In the illustrated embodiment, the continuous reinforcing structure comprises the toe 9, the false welt which also forms the surround 10 for the sole, the sole itself either partly or completely (which can however be injected separately or subsequently), the heel reinforcement 11, a fillet or edging 12, which starts from the reinforcement 11 and follows the entire border A of the shoe opening, to allow the eyelets to be fitted in its front portion for passage of the lace, a fillet 13 which connects the edging to the toe at the front, and two sets of bands 14 (see FIG. 3), one on one side and one on the other side of the shoe, forming a binding and extending between the edging 12 and the false welt 10.

The plastic structure is indissolubly bonded to the vamp or sock, and forms therewith a simple, economical, robust and comfortable shoe comprising extended vamp zones which are not occupied by the plastic material, and through which perspiration can take place. The dimensions, materials and configuration of the plastic structure or vamp can obviously be different from those represented and described, and are therefore not limiting.